1250 Galanthus

1250 Galanthus

Discovery[1]
Discovered by	K. Reinmuth
Discovery site	Heidelberg Obs.
Discovery date	25 January 1933
Designations
MPC designation	(1250) Galanthus
Pronunciation	/ɡəˈlænθəs/[2]
Named after	Galanthus (snowdrop) (herbaceous plants)[3]
Alternative designations	1933 BD · 1971 OQ
Minor planet category	main-belt · (middle) background[4]
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch 4 September 2017 (JD 2458000.5)
Uncertainty parameter 0
Observation arc	84.84 yr (30,987 days)
Aphelion	3.2465 AU
Perihelion	1.8560 AU
Semi-major axis	2.5513 AU
Eccentricity	0.2725
Orbital period (sidereal)	4.08 yr (1,488 days)
Mean anomaly	249.60°
Mean motion	0° 14^m 30.84^s / day
Inclination	15.169°
Longitude of ascending node	292.02°
Argument of perihelion	217.17°
Physical characteristics
Dimensions	17.18±5.39 km[5] 19.394±0.152 km[6] 19.54±0.36 km[7] 20.062±0.112 km[8] 20.33±4.93 km[9] 21.00±2.9 km[10]
Synodic rotation period	3.918±0.0009 h[11] 3.92 h[12]
Geometric albedo	0.04±0.02[9] 0.0443±0.0069[6] 0.0500±0.017[10] 0.055±0.011[8] 0.058±0.002[7] 0.06±0.04[5]
Spectral type	C (assumed)[13]
Absolute magnitude (H)	12.233±0.001 (R)[11] · 12.26[1][5][6][7][10][13] · 12.52[9]

1250 Galanthus, provisional designation 1933 BD, is a dark background asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 20 kilometers in diameter. It was discovered on 25 January 1933, by German astronomer Karl Reinmuth at the Heidelberg Observatory.[14] The asteroid was named for the herbaceous plant Galanthus, also known as "snowdrop".[3]

Orbit and classification

Galanthus is a non-family asteroid from the main belt's background population.[4] It orbits the Sun in the central main-belt at a distance of 1.9–3.2 AU once every 4 years and 1 month (1,488 days; semi-major axis of 2.55 AU). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.27 and an inclination of 15° with respect to the ecliptic.[1] The body's observation arc begins at Heidelberg the night after its official discovery observation.[14]

Physical characteristics

Galanthus is an assumed carbonaceous C-type asteroid.[13]

Rotation period

In the early 1980s, a rotational lightcurve of Galanthus was obtained during a survey conducted by Richard P. Binzel at the McDonald Observatory, Texas. Lightcurve analysis gave a well-defined rotation period of 3.92 hours with a brightness variation of 0.28 magnitude (U=3).[12] The period was confirmed from photometric observations by astronomers at the Palomar Transient Factory in October 2015, which gave a similar period of 3.918 hours and an amplitude of 0.22 magnitude (U=2).[11]

Diameter and albedo

According to the surveys carried out by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite IRAS, the Japanese Akari satellite and the NEOWISE mission of NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, Galanthus measures between 17.18 and 21.00 kilometers in diameter and its surface has an albedo between 0.04 and 0.06.[5][6][7][8][9][10]

The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link adopts the results obtained by IRAS, that is, an albedo of 0.0500 and a diameter of 21.0 kilometers based on an absolute magnitude of 12.26.[13]

Naming

This minor planet was named after the herbaceous plant Galanthus, also known as "snowdrop".[3] The official naming citation was mentioned in The Names of the Minor Planets by Paul Herget in 1955 (H 115).[3]

Reinmuth's flowers

Due to his many discoveries, Karl Reinmuth submitted a large list of 66 newly named asteroids in the early 1930s. The list covered his discoveries with numbers between (1009) and (1200). This list also contained a sequence of 28 asteroids, starting with 1054 Forsytia, that were all named after plants, in particular flowering plants (also see list of minor planets named after animals and plants).[15]

References

1. "JPL Small-Body Database Browser: 1250 Galanthus (1933 BD)" (2017-11-27 last obs.). Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
2. "Galanthus". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.
3. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2003). "(1250) Galanthus". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1250) Galanthus. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 102. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1251. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.
4. "Asteroid 1250 Galanthus – Proper Elements". AstDyS-2, Asteroids – Dynamic Site. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
5. Nugent, C. R.; Mainzer, A.; Masiero, J.; Bauer, J.; Cutri, R. M.; Grav, T.; et al. (December 2015). "NEOWISE Reactivation Mission Year One: Preliminary Asteroid Diameters and Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal. 814 (2): 13. arXiv:1509.02522. Bibcode:2015ApJ...814..117N. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/814/2/117. S2CID 9341381. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
6. Mainzer, A.; Grav, T.; Masiero, J.; Hand, E.; Bauer, J.; Tholen, D.; et al. (November 2011). "NEOWISE Studies of Spectrophotometrically Classified Asteroids: Preliminary Results". The Astrophysical Journal. 741 (2): 25. arXiv:1109.6407. Bibcode:2011ApJ...741...90M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/741/2/90. S2CID 35447010.
7. Usui, Fumihiko; Kuroda, Daisuke; Müller, Thomas G.; Hasegawa, Sunao; Ishiguro, Masateru; Ootsubo, Takafumi; et al. (October 2011). "Asteroid Catalog Using Akari: AKARI/IRC Mid-Infrared Asteroid Survey". Publications of the Astronomical Society of Japan. 63 (5): 1117–1138. Bibcode:2011PASJ...63.1117U. doi:10.1093/pasj/63.5.1117. (online, AcuA catalog p. 153)
8. Masiero, Joseph R.; Grav, T.; Mainzer, A. K.; Nugent, C. R.; Bauer, J. M.; Stevenson, R.; et al. (August 2014). "Main-belt Asteroids with WISE/NEOWISE: Near-infrared Albedos". The Astrophysical Journal. 791 (2): 11. arXiv:1406.6645. Bibcode:2014ApJ...791..121M. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/791/2/121. S2CID 119293330.
9. Nugent, C. R.; Mainzer, A.; Bauer, J.; Cutri, R. M.; Kramer, E. A.; Grav, T.; et al. (September 2016). "NEOWISE Reactivation Mission Year Two: Asteroid Diameters and Albedos". The Astronomical Journal. 152 (3): 12. arXiv:1606.08923. Bibcode:2016AJ....152...63N. doi:10.3847/0004-6256/152/3/63.
10. Tedesco, E. F.; Noah, P. V.; Noah, M.; Price, S. D. (October 2004). "IRAS Minor Planet Survey V6.0". NASA Planetary Data System. 12: IRAS-A-FPA-3-RDR-IMPS-V6.0. Bibcode:2004PDSS...12.....T. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
11. Waszczak, Adam; Chang, Chan-Kao; Ofek, Eran O.; Laher, Russ; Masci, Frank; Levitan, David; et al. (September 2015). "Asteroid Light Curves from the Palomar Transient Factory Survey: Rotation Periods and Phase Functions from Sparse Photometry". The Astronomical Journal. 150 (3): 35. arXiv:1504.04041. Bibcode:2015AJ....150...75W. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/150/3/75. S2CID 8342929. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
12. Binzel, R. P.; Mulholland, J. D. (December 1983). "A photoelectric lightcurve survey of small main belt asteroids". Icarus. 56 (3): 519–533. Bibcode:1983Icar...56..519B. doi:10.1016/0019-1035(83)90170-7. ISSN 0019-1035. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
13. "LCDB Data for (1250) Galanthus". Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB). Retrieved 31 December 2017.
14. "1250 Galanthus (1933 BD)". Minor Planet Center. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
15. Schmadel, Lutz D. (2007). "(1054) Forsytia". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names – (1054) Forsytia. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. p. 90. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_1055. ISBN 978-3-540-00238-3.

External links

• Asteroid Lightcurve Database (LCDB), query form (info Archived 16 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine)
• Dictionary of Minor Planet Names, Google books
• Asteroids and comets rotation curves, CdR – Observatoire de Genève, Raoul Behrend
• Discovery Circumstances: Numbered Minor Planets (1)-(5000) – Minor Planet Center
• 1250 Galanthus at AstDyS-2, Asteroids—Dynamic Site
  • Ephemeris · Observation prediction · Orbital info · Proper elements · Observational info
• 1250 Galanthus at the JPL Small-Body Database
  • Close approach · Discovery · Ephemeris · Orbit viewer · Orbit parameters · Physical parameters